849REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Reviews and Notices of Books.NEURO-PATHOLOGY.

Patholoqy of the Nervous System. By E. FARQUHARBUZZARD, M.D., F.R.C.P., Physician to St.Thomas’s Hospital, &c. ; and J. GODWIN GREEN-FIELD, M.D., M.R.C.P., Pathologist to the NationalHospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic. London :Constable and Co. 1921. Pp. 334. 35s.Tms text-book of neuropathology, written for

medical students and practitioners, represents a

praiseworthy attempt to fill an admitted lacuna inthe neurological literature of this country, and as suchis assured of a favourable reception. The authors’plan, indeed, includes more than the title of thevolume indicates, for the setiology, pathogenesis, andcorrelation of symptomatology with pathology, ofmany of the diseases therein described, are sketchedclearly if briefly. It is no easy task to reduce to aconcise yet sufficiently detailed compendium that largebody of neuropathological doctrine derived by theworking neurologist from personal cases, hospitalexperience and tradition, and monographs and articlesscattered through the world’s scientific literature.This task has been successfully accomplished byDr. Buzzard and Dr. Greenfield.On the whole, they give an account of neuropatho-

logy more morphological than exegetic ; terminalstates rather than pathogenic processes receive atten-tion. In proportion to the space devoted to the former,the chapter on general pathology is relatively slight ;and, while the main principles of pathological tissue-reaction are outlined, there is room here for a morecomprehensive and at the same time more minutesurvey. Under the different headings of develop-mental and familial disease, neurosyphilis, infectivedisease, injuries, tumours, &c., the student will findexcellent pathological descriptions, lucidly expressed,and perhaps it is in keeping with the authors’ aim thatsuch problems of interpretation as arise are relegatedrather to the background. In motor neuron disease,for example, the relative pallor (by Weigert-Pal stains)of the whole of the white matter of the cord apart fromthat of the dorsal columns and cerebellar tracts, andthe not infrequent involvement of certain sensorysystems, are incidentally mentioned, but the signi-ficance of these peculiarities is not discussed ; andpuzzling phenomena such as a disproportion betweenthe cellular and the fibre changes in the same neuronalsystems, and the disintegration of the ventral nerve-roots in their intra-medullary and not their extra-medullary course, might have been mentioned, if onlyto show that the nature of the morbid process is farindeed from being settled. Several pages are devotedto trypanosomiasis and rabies, rarities seldom seen bythe neurologist. Yet we miss any reference to thepathology of family spastic paraplegia, which is nomore uncommon than these; aplasia axialis, Schilder’sencephalitis periaxialis diffusa, and other conditions ofinterest in neurology are not touched on; the accountfurnished of diplegia and Little’s disease and alliedstates is rather superficial, there being apparently noallusion to hapmorrbagic disease of the newborn, or tothe état marbré of the corpus striatum, as morbid pro- icesses of pathogenic importance in connexion therewith. IDifferences of opinion, not to mention actual con- I,troversies, are inevitable in neuropathology ; referenceto some of the points that might be modified or ampli-fied is made chiefly because we welcome this useful andopportune contribution from the British school ofneurology; we should like it to attain in futureeditions an even higher standard of usefulness, andcomprehensiveness. The book will be appreciated byall students of neuro-pathology and those familiarwith the subject will find it most profitable reading.It is well printed and the illustrations are clearlyreproduced. The error in the heading of p. 69should be corrected, and Dejerine in his life-time spelthis name without any accent, a detail to which wehave ourselves, we admit, paid no consistent attention.

Le R6flere Pilomoteur. By Dr. ANDRÉ THOMAS,Physician to the Saint-Joseph Hospital, Paris.Paris : Masson et Cie. 1921. With 74 illustra-tions and 12 plates in black and colour. Pp. 242.Fr.25.

j THE appearance of a monograph of over 200 pagesdevoted to the pilomotor reflex alone is a sufficientindication of the attention now being given to thesympathetic nervous system. Exact description istaking the place of vague generalities, and the gradualevolution of suitable methods of examination is calcu-lated to result in still greater discoveries than those ofthe last decade. Known for centuries to physician andlayman alike, the pilomotor phenomenon has neverbeen studied extensively, still less utilised for diagnos-tic or clinical purposes. Dr. Thomas supplies theclinician with precise details for its evocation in thenormal individual, and furnishes many examples ofits alterations under pathological conditions, notablyin spinal and peripheral nerve lesions, as also ininvolvement of the sympathetic system itself. One ofthe useful features of the reflex is its visibility, so tospeak, whereby the student of the subject can gaininsight into the laws of sympathetic reflectivity. Itis excitable either peripherally or centrally, the qualityof the stimulus much more than its intensity being arequisite for the development of horripilation; on

occasion it can make its appearance in circumstanceswhich constitute it a " conditional reflex " in thePavlovian sense. Depending largely for its apparitionon the state of mind (affective, emotional) of theindividual concerned, it is usually generalised when ofcentral origin and unilateral when of peripheral, or itmay be quite limited and localised, but transitionsoccur between the local and the general manifestations.Dr. Thomas appears to regard it in all circumstancesas of cerebral origin, chiefly because of its extremevariability in degree and extent. Its analogies withand differences from vasomotor and sweat reflexes arefully considered.

Altogether, this is a notable contribution to thestudy of the functions of the sympathetic nervoussystem.

La Dégénérescence Hépato-Lenticulaire (Maladie deWilson, Pseudosclérose). By H. C. HALT., formerlyChef de Clinique at the Hospital of Bispebjaerg,Copenhagen. With a Preface by Prof. PIERREMARIE. Paris: Masson et Cie. 1921. Pp. 361.Fr.20.

THIS is an account of the disease known as progressivelenticular degeneration, which Dr. Hall christenshepato-lenticular degeneration; it is a model of whatsuch contributions should be. It contains a surveyof previously described cases, a detailed examinationof some four personal cases, and a careful andinformative discussion of the nature and pathogenesis ofthe affection. It is well printed and well illustrated,and, with a full bibliography, gives the neurologist aremarkably complete account of a condition which hasawakened in recent years much interest and not a littlecontroversy, both at home and abroad.

Dr. Hall’s conclusion in regard to the question of therelation of the disease to pseudosclerosis is that the twoconditions differ not in kind but in degree and thatthey are pathologically identical ; he is doubtful asto the position of the disease at present called torsion-spasm, but thinks it probably belongs to the same group.Further, the author ranges himself with the minoritywho consider that progressive lenticular degenerationhas its origin in " a congenital constitutional anomaly."We do not intend to enter into any criticism of theseconclusions ; it may be said, however, that Dr. Halldoes not lay sufficient stress on the occurrence of acutecases of the affection, which run their whole course ina few months, or even weeks, and which do notcorrespond to the course of any congenital affectionwith which the neurologist is familiar. His conten-tion that the disease is an " abiotrophy " in the senseemployed by Gowers, and that the degeneration,both in brain and liver, is caused by a " congenitaldebility," is apparently based to a considerable extent

850 REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

on his view that the essential pathology in bothpseudosclerosis and progressive lenticular degenerationconsists of a neuroglial proliferation which is

" not asimple process of reaction after a primary degenerationof the parenchyma." In many cases of progressivelenticular degeneration, however, there is no neuroglialproliferation of this kind ; the disintegrating paren-chyma is never fully replaced by glial tissue; the processis one of primary parenchymatous degeneration andnot of abnormal neurogliosis. Mention is made of thedifficult problem of the varying character of theinvoluntary movements attributed to disease of thecorpus striatum ; less attention is paid to the factthat they often arise in cases where the lesions are notin that organ at all.

This is a sound contribution to a topic of consider-able importance, and Dr. Hall’s monograph will takea foremost place in the literature concerned therewith.

INSANITY.

Benign Stupors : A Study of a New Manic-Depres-sive Reaction Type. By AUGUST HOCH, M.D., lateDirector of the Psychiatric Institute of the NewYork State Hospitals. Cambridge : At the Uni-versity Press. 1J21. Pp. 284. 14s.

THIS work, which is an attempt to differentiaterecoverable stupors from those belonging to thedementia praecox type, was interrupted by the deathof Dr. Hoch and has been completed by Dr. John T.MacCurdy, whose name is familiar through hispsychiatric work in this country during the war. Bya study of its ideational content and symptoms Dr.Hoch was led to believe that benign stupor is aregression to a death-like state actually dependentupon a delusion of death, and he holds out the prospectof making a positive diagnosis before failure to recoverleads to a conclusion of chronicity. An objectiveresemblance is seen in the two types which he explainsby showing that the similar reactions are dependentupon indifference in the benign stupor, and upondistraction towards an inner and unreal world in thosecases which tend towards dementia.The clinical descriptions and the views of Dr. Hoch

are important to those who seek a psychological explana-tion of the psychoses. The manic-depressive psychoses,among which he places benign stupor, are probablydetermined remotely by an inherent defect which is,however, non-specific ; physical disease may alsofacilitate the production of a psychosis but be likewisenon-specific, the actual psychosis being determinedby psychological factors. This view, which is notclaimed as original, reconciles astiological theorieswhich at first appear incompatible. A weak chapteris that on physical manifestations of stupor, in whichDr. Hoch has set out to find an explanation of thefever which sometimes marks the course of the benignvariety ; but he admits that the hypothesis he givesis only a tentative assumption.

COMPLEMENT-FIXATION TESTS.

Technique de la Reaetion de Deviation du Comple-ment de Bordet et Gengou. Deuxième édition.Par Drs. P.-F. ARMAND-DELILLE and L. NÈGRE.Paris: Masson et Cie. 1922. Pp. 196. Fr.9.THE aim and scope of this monograph, of which

a s 3cond edition is now before us, are clearly indicatedby its title. The authors deal almost entirely withthe laboratory technique of complement fixationand have little to say about the purely theoreticalaspects of the question, or about the influence ofmodern physico-chemical views on this side of immuno-logical technique. The book is written with a clearnessof thought and expression which is wholly admir-able ; though the student may be a little disappointedwhen he comes to work at the laboratory bench andfinds unsuspected practical difficulties. After a briefintroduction, the authors proceed straight to theirsubject and describe the Bordet-Gengou phenomenonof complement fixation; there follows a chapter onthe mechanism of action of heemolytic serum, andthe clinical laboratory test of complement fixation

is described in full. Sections are devoted to theinoculation of animals for the production of anti-serum, the bleeding of animals for obtaining comple-ment, the titration of the various substances used inthe Wassermann reaction, and finally a descriptionof the reaction itself based upon the method ofCalmette and Massol. A few of the well-known modi-fications of the Wassermann test are also described.Chapters I.-V. complete the first half of themonograph.The second half proceeds to deal with the practical

application of the method to complement fixationin tuberculosis-in which the techniques of Calmetteand Massol, Besredka, Petroff, and Debains are

described-followed by short accounts of the testin enteric and Malta fevers, dysentery, cholera,plague, and some of the mycoses ; whilst the finalchapter treats of this reaction in hydatid disease.The book contains numerous illustrations and titra-tion tables, all of them clear. We are a little doubtfulas to the value of perpetuating Ehrlich’s diagramsof the working of complement; they do not help toa true physico-chemical conception. There is includeda good bibliography of the early work on the subject,up to the year 1910. The meagre allowance of onlytwo and half pages is given to references to workpublished since 1910.We believe this monograph will be welcomed by

the senior student and the post-graduate who wish tolearn something more of this subject than can befound in the ordinary bacteriological text-books. Itkeeps to the high road, avoiding all tempting side-paths, and arrives at the destination for which itset out-a clear and concise presentation of themechanism of complement fixation. It is not, anddoes not claim to be, in any sense a reference-bookfor research workers.

SURGICAL RESEARCH.

Papers from the Mayo Foundation for MedicalEducation and Research and the Medical School.1. 1915-1920. London and Philadelphia : W. B.Saunders Co. 1921. Pp. 659. 30s.

THIS volume is the first of a new series emanatingfrom the Mayo Foundation. The papers in it arewritten mainly by the younger members of the staff.There are no writings from the pen of the familiarauthorities of the clinic, the brothers Mayo, Balfour,Henderson, Carman, Braasch, Sistrunk, to mentiononly some. The papers, bacteriological, clinical, experi-mental, are of a very high average order of merit, andone gets the impression that some of the authorswill undoubtedly rise to positions of eminence.There is a rather striking absence of that kind ofpublication which is a mere citation of a series of £cases with the frequency of symptoms reduced to apercentage. Nearly always there is a definite directedeffort to advance knowledge, and a better index ofthe spirit which pervades the institution could scarcelybe given. Sixty-six such papers constitute no meanfive-year output for a single medical school, asso-ciated though it be with an institution providing,an abundance of clinical material.

A TEXT-BOOK OF SURGICAL ANATOMY.Third edition. By WILLIAM FRANCIS CA.MPB-ELL,A.B., M.D., F.A.C.S., Surgeon-in-Chief, TrinityHospital ; sometime Professor of Anatomy andProfessor of Surgery, Long Island College Hospital.London and Philadelphia : W. B. Saunders Com-pany, Ltd. 1921. Pp. 681. 15s.THE fact that a third edition of this book is called

for indicates that the author has written what the-average American student wants. In this countrymost of the matter contained therein is taught inclinical demonstrations, and the British medicalstudent seldom possesses or reads such a large volumeon surgical anatomy. The book is well printed andillustrated, and the subject-matter is presentedattractively, though inadequately in places. In sucha large treatise on surgical anatomy one would expect

851REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

to find an account of the variations in the arrange-ment of the bile and cystic ducts, knowledge of extremeimportance when a cholecystectomy has to be per-formed. In the description of the perineum there isno mention of the recto-urethralis muscle, and no goodaccount is supplied of the approach to the prostateby the perineal route. Even a few small omissionsof this kind detract from the value of the book to thepractising surgeon, but the student will find all thatis necessary for him to know for his examination.

SNAKES OF CEYLON.

By FRANK WALL, C.M.G., I.M.S. Colombo : H. R.Cottle. 1921. With 98 text-figures. Pp. 582.THIS publication is issued from the Colombo

Museum, and copies can be obtained on applicationto the Director. It consists of a complete systematiczoological description of the snakes of Ceylon withtables and keys for identifying the species and a fulland most interesting account of their habits, reproduc-tion, and life-history, and, in the poisonous varieties,their toxicology. We have seldom seen such a happycombination of museum work and systematics withfirst-rate field natural history, and anyone concernedwith snake venom will find the book most useful.It is curious, for instance, to note the varying tempersof the venomous snakes. Echis is thoroughly trucu-lent and vicious ; the cobra is timid, and the kraitinoffensive ; the sea-snakes are extraordinarily peace-ful and are freely handled by fishermen with impunity ;while if any of these get in a good bite it is almostcertainly fatal. The book is dedicated to the author’sfather, George Wall, who for nearly 50 years spenthimself in public service in Ceylon ; a brief notice ofhis activities forms an introduction to a volume inwhich his son, along different lines, carries on thefamily tradition. The printing and arrangement areexcellent except for the page headings, which mono-tonously repeat " Snakes of Ceylon," instead of givingthe name of the snake dealt with on each page :this is a rather serious obstacle to ready referenceand necessitates constant resort to the indices.

NOUVEAU TRAIT DE MEDBCINE.Fasc. VII.: Avitaminoses : Maladies par AgentsPhysiques. Troubles de la Nutrition. Publié sousla direction de G. H. ROGER, FERN AND WIDAL,P. J. TEISSIER. Pp. 552. With 32 figures in thetext. Paris : Masson et Cie. Fr.35.THE seventh volume of this encyclopaedia of medi-

cine deals with deficiency diseases, snake poisoning,anaphylactic troubles, serum sickness, and injuriesdue to physical agents such as heat, cold, compressedair, electricity, and X rays. The latter half of thevolume is devoted to disorders of nutrition includinggout and diabetes, and is written entirely by Dr. PaulLegendre. The general standard is high.In this volume the subjects discussed are in many

instances comparatively new, and upon these dogmaticstatements must not be made. Prof. Roger in hisintroductory chapter on Vitamines and Avitaminosessets an excellent example of the way to marshal theinformation available in a new field. Without takingsides in debatable points he fairly presents the factsrecorded by various observers. His verdict on theterm " vitamin " illustrates a happy combination ofa judicial mind with common sense-. " The expressionvitamine is thoroughly bad .... still it has becomeclassical." In this spirit he accepts the term " Avita-minoses " as sufficiently descriptive of a certain seriesof disorders to serve as a label of identity. Scurvy,pellagra, and beri-beri come within the scope of thisvolume. It seems a pity that rickets is not includedalso, instead of being reserved for Vol. XXI., whereit finds itself in strange company with diseases ofmuscles, chronic rheumatisms, and arthropathies.Prof. Perroncito in his chapter on Pellagra does notrefer to the " Report of the Egyptian Inquiry intoPellagra " or to Wilson’s views on the biological valueof protein ; these omissions render the whole chapteruseless, save as an historical summary up to a point.

Calmette on snake-venoms makes delightful read-ing. Here, as in his volume on " Tuberculosis," thisgreat man brings the laboratory so close to the bedsideas to leave no doubt that the clinical physician of thefuture will take Calmette for his exemplar as a passingage has taken Sydenham. The chapters on diabetesand gout cover well-trodden ground : they demon-strate how much toilsome work has been done ; theyalso show how scanty are the real additions to ourunderstanding of these ancient disorders of metabolism.The work is well recorded and every manner of treat-ment appears to be described and considered except-and it is an important and damaging omission-inthe dietetic treatment of diabetes Allen’s starvationmethod is not even mentioned. After reading thechapter on gout one is inclined to wonder whether inour grasp of the pathogeny of this disease we haveadvanced very far beyond the wisdom of the Hippo-cratic aphorism " Eunuchs do not take the gout norbecome bald."The " Nouveau Trait de Médecine " is, on the

whole, a sound epitome of the medical knowledge ofour time, and editors and publishers alike are to becongratulated on the success of a vast undertaking.

MAN-THE ANIMAL.

By W. M. SMALLWOOD, Ph.D., Professor of Com-parative Anatomy in Syracuse University. NewYork : The Macmillan Co. 1922. Pp. 223. 12s.THE author sets out to deal with the relationships

of biological discovery to the physical existence ofman for the information of lay people. The severalchapters discuss metabolism, reproduction, heredity,sensation, learning, disease, and kindred subjects.Persons with no previous biological training wouldlearn much that was new to them, but they would findthe book dull reading and in places very hard reading,because the author has failed to realise the profundityof the gulf which separates his knowledge and experi-ence in this particular field from that of the ordinaryeducated man. Cytology, for instance, and the playof the chromosomes in maturation and fertilisationare not subjects which can be apprehended as incidentsin a short book. Instructed students will read it withmore profit, but they will want some critical sense.It is strange, for example, to find among the " laws ofliving protoplasm " no mention of the axiom thatliving matter occurs only in certain pieces or quantawhich are known as organisms and which are indivisible.On the contrary more than a chapter is given to thecell as the " biological unit," and the author seems tohave got no further than the proposition that allliving things " can be analysed in terms of the cellsfound in each." Perhaps it is this passion for analysisinstead of synthesis which leads to the amazing swaggerof such untruths as (p. 204) " man has come to havealmost complete control of the inorganic universethrough the application of the scientific method," and(p. 211)

" we know nearly all that we shall ever know

about the physical range of variation in man." Thosewho think to make their world a better place will bedismayed by the certainty with which Prof. Smallwooddecides (p. 81) that nature is everything and nurtureimmaterial. There is a complete muddle aboutimmunity (p. 140) and the tubercle bacillus happensto be one which does not follow the usual bacterialhabit of dividing every half hour (p. 20). It is ques-tionable whether the statement (p. 15) that the 13elements essential to life, which include chlorine andsilicon and omit aluminium " are the most numerousin the rocks, water, and atmosphere " is correct ;Clarke’s data hardly correspond. But we may well begrateful for the reminder (p. 203) that Liebig wrote :" the majority of our controversies arise from the factthat we are too much in the habit of attributing toone cause that which is produced by several." JohnMorley somewhere calls the attribution of complexresults to simple causes one of the fundamental humanvices. The author would do well to ponder this. Forhe evidently belongs to the school of thought whichlooks for fundamental truths in the means and mechan-isms of biology rather than in the ends and results.

852 NEW INVENTIONS.

PUBLIC HEALTH SURVEYS.What they are-How to ma7ce them-How to use ’,them. By MURRAY P. HORWOOD, Ph.D., of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology. London :Chapman and Hall, Ltd. 1921. Pp. 403. 24s.

THIS is an elegant book, printed on thin paper, ina limp leather cover, with numerous photographicillustrations and diagrams. It gives a completesurvey of the science and art of sanitary survey-making, and no worker with this manual at his elbowis likely to overlook any aspect or detail of sanitarywork in making a survey. In a foreword by the lateProf. W. T. Sedgwick the public health survey isbriefly characterised as " the principal breakwateragainst the flood of sometimes misdirected popularenthusiasm and the sure guide to wise municipalaction." Prof. G. C. Whipple’s longer introduction ismost suggestive. He draws an admirable distinctionbetween public health and the collective result ofprivate health-a difference between mass action andcollective action. He also draws attention to thatcommon error in these documents which has beendescribed as emptying the note-book into the printedreport.The book is systematically arranged. There are

several chapters describing the organisation of surveysand methods of carrying them out, and others dealingwith each of the chief subjects of inquiry, as water-supply, drainage, milk-supply, food centres, housing,schools, health organisation, and control of specialdiseases. The analysis of city budgets forms thesubject of a useful chapter ; it is stated that a sub-vention of from a half to one dollar per capita perannum is required for efficient health work. Goodadvice is given on the writing of a convincing report;a useful lesson taught is that every report shouldenable the reader to appreciate the relative as wellas the actual value of each section. In this countrythe place of the survey in fully organised districts istaken by the regular work of the health departmentand the annual report of the medical officer of health,which is, in fact, an annual stocktaking. But few ofthese would enable the members of a local authorityto deduce the relative values of different activities,and the possibilities of further progress if reasonablefinancial allotments are made.The perusal of this book might well clarify the ideas

of some medical officers of health in this country, andshow them how they can stimulate interest in theirplans by a rearrangement and simplification of theirreports.

______________

New Inventions.AN IMPROVED METHOD OF INDUCING

ANÆSTHESIA IN ANIMALS.THIS method was devised for the rapid induction of

anæsthesia in animals without the disadvantages ofthe older methods. One of us (B. A. McS.) wasresponsible for the anaesthetic box, the other (S. R. W.)for the method of administering the anaesthetic.The box is made of wood (see figure) lined inside with

tin. It is 3 ft. long, 1 ft. 8 in. wide, and 1 ft. 9 in. high.Three windows with shutters are fixed in the box, oneon either side and one in the lid, so that the differentstages of anaesthesia may be observed. At one endof the box is a piece of wire gauze over which is fitteda small box attachment. A slide in the box attach-ment lifts up, so that the animal may breathe air ifrequired. The interior of the box is divided into varioussized compartments by moving the partition, so thatone large animal or several smaller animals can beanaesthetised at the same time. One end of the box isfitted with rings so that animals may be tied down.

Ether is given in the form of hot ether vapour bythe ether bomb described and illustrated in THELANCET a year ago.’ The ether vapour is delivered

1 THE LANCET, 1921, i., 336.

in the box by a small tube which carries the vapourfrom the bomb, and is held in the wire gauze by anozzle attachment. The ether bomb is placed in abasin of hot water, and the amount of hot ether vapourdelivered into the box regulated by a valve. Theinductions are carried out automatically. For chloro-form anaesthesia or for mixture of chloroform and ether,a Shipway apparatus for warm anaesthetic vapours isused, an oxygen cylinder being attached in place ofthe hand pump. The animal may be kept for long

Drawing of anaesthetic box.

periods under the anaesthesia by raising the slide ofthe box attachment, the animals being allowed tobreathe air.

It was found advantageous to inject morphine andatropine before placing the animal in the box. 1/6th g,morphine hydrochloride + 1/180th g. atropinesulphate is dissolved in 10 minims of water, and5 minims are injected subcutaneously into the thighof the animal about ten minutes before induction.This preliminary injection prevents salivary secretionand keeps the air-passages free. It was found thatcomplete anaesthesia is obtained with the dog or catin six or eight minutes ; the animal is then removedfrom the box, and administration of the anæstheticis continued by a small open ether Schimmelbuschmaskor through an intratracheal tube.

Observations.

1. This method provides a simple automatic meansof administering, ether to animals-particularly catsand dogs. 2. Induction is smooth and rapid. Nohandling of the animal is necessary and anaesthesia isproduced without struggling or noise. 3. The methodis safe and simple, and up to now no animal has beenlost. 4. During induction the various stages ofanaesthesia may be.demonstrated to students withoutdisturbing the animal. 5. The depth of anaesthesiacan be most accurately controlled in accordance withexperimental requirements. 6. The method is equallyvaluable for chloroform anaesthesia. 7. Two largeand several small animals can be anaesthetised simul-taneously, so that considerable time is saved in thepreparation of decerebate and decapitate specimensby Sherrington’s methods.

We are indebted to Mr. S. L. Mucklow for the drawingof the anaesthetic box.

’

B. A. MCSWINEY, M.B,S. R. WILSON, M.B.

Physiological Department, University of Manchester.